“It may be so; and that in turn explains how it came about that I was so quick to realise the beauty of the fairest daughter of Manoa!” And Leonard’s look was so tender, so full of loving admiration, that it brought a rosy glow to Ulama’s cheek. “And it also reminds me that I sought you here to tell you something of importance, something that has brought joy and gladness to my heart. I have just been talking about you with the king.”
The colour in the girl’s cheek grew deeper; and now she turned her glance again upon the landscape that lay sleeping in the morning sunlight.
“Dear love,” continued Leonard, “think what it means to me—to both of us, I hope—when I tell you that the king has given me permission to ask you to give yourself to me! Ah! Not only has he done that, but he has done it in a manner—accompanied it with kind words of trust and confidence that have filled my whole heart with gratitude. He speaks as though I had already proved that which I can only hope to show in the future—my true desire to make myself worthy of your love. His kindness and many marks of friendship towards one who is but a stranger here have overwhelmed me. I feel the whole devotion of my life to you and him can scarce repay such generous, ungrudging proofs of his confidence and favour.”
“You have a good friend in Monella,” Ulama said quietly. “He never fails to speak well of you when occasion offers. And he is one of our own race, and has had great experience of the world outside, of which we know nothing; and my father knows he can rely on his opinion.”
“Yes, I know that is true, dear love, and my heart burns with gratitude to him too. And now, beloved”—and he put his arms round her and drew her to him—“may I not think of you as all my own? Let me hear you say with those dear lips that you know now what love is, that it has sprung up unforced in your pure heart; let me hear you say, ‘Leonard, I love you!’”
And, as he drew her closer to him and her head nestled upon his shoulder, a whisper, that seemed but a faint sigh, breathed softly the words so sweet to hear for the first time from a loved-one’s lips—“I love you!”
Later in the day Leonard told Templemore of his interview with the king; and, as he did so, a look came over his face that, as his friend expressed it to himself, “did one’s heart good to see, even if but once in a lifetime!”
“In your happiness I too feel happy, dear old boy,” he said. “And I should have little concern, for the time being, if only those at home knew we were alive and well. As it is, the thought of their anxiety troubles me unceasingly.”
“Let us hope our signal flares were seen and will be reported,” Leonard answered. “I think they must have been seen; and, if so, Carenna is sure to hear of it, and will find some way of sending word.”
This referred to what they had done to carry out Leonard’s suggestion. After some perseverance in watching from the spot they had selected, they saw, one evening, camp fires far out on the savanna. At once they made their signals with small heaps of powder, and these they repeated several times. No response whatever came; nor did they expect any. There was nothing for it but to wait patiently in the hope that their signals had been seen.